Bent is not Broken
by Just another freaking fangirl
Summary: Percy and Annabeth are back, but Nico still isn't all right. What secret is he keeping? Enter Lynn, someone the demigods have never seen before, and will never see again. NOT an OC/Nico fanfic. Rated T for later torture.
1. Chapter 1

So here's my first fanfic on this account. Obviously, the only character that is mine is Lynn. Also Clay. Reviews are always welcome, and if you want more regular fan fiction, (although admittedly crappier), check my Instagram account, percyjackson_fanfiction

Enjoy.

_Bent is Not Broken Chapter oOe_

It was a fairly normal day for Jason. However; he'd been keeping an eye on Nico, as he'd been acting weird lately. Jason didn't think that it was about Percy.  
He had a feeling that it was much deeper.  
His suspicions were confirmed that morning.  
They had docked the Argo two, and everyone, even Nico, was out on the deck. But he was staring out at nothing, looking as if the world was going to eat him.  
But Jason's eyes focused on someone running. She had run right out of the forest, and was screaming. A hellhound was following her.  
Before any of them could react, she had slashed at it with a knife, but it didn't vaporize. It looked to be an ordinary kitchen knife.  
But then Jason looked at Nico. He looked shocked, but then determined.  
He drew his sword, and threw it with perfect accuracy at the hellhound, a good thirty feet below and away.  
It landed right on its head.  
The girl looked up at the ship, and Nico- without warning- jumped the good thirty feet and got up running. He ran straight to the girl.  
They hugged. The rest of the seven ran down the stairs, all in total shock.  
Who was this girl?  
She had her arms around Nico, and she was sobbing.  
Jason couldn't see much of her face, as it was covered by her dark hair. He could hear part of the words she was sobbing into Nico's shoulder.  
"Clay...he's gone...oh gods...you saw."  
They all heard Nico's answer.  
"I saw." he said. And they could hear the emotion in his voice, all the pain.  
They knew that something terrible had happened to this girl.  
After a few minutes, she had calmed down.  
They both stood up.  
The girl was slightly taller than Nico, maybe five seven. She had dark hair that ended shoulder length, but looked as it had been cut off at all different points. Some brushed her eyes, other stuck out at odd angles. It looked a lot like Nico's. She had tanned skin though, a stark contrast to his, though she had the same bags under her eyes. Her eyes were a dark hazel, but they looked like Nico's- that is, broken.  
Her clothes were all black, though all she was wearing was a jacket, t-shirt, and ripped jeans. The girl was grossly skinny, more so than Nico, her face hollow.  
She also looked like she'd been through hell.  
"Hello," the girl said as she looked at all of them. "I'm Lynn Rugsmire."  
She gave them each a cold appraising look, her face only softening when she looked at Hazel and Jason.  
The look she gave Percy was an I- want- to- throttle- you- look.

Of course, Annabeth asked the obvious question.  
"How do you know Nico?"  
The girl sneered at Annabeth. "You don't need to know that."  
Nico turned towards Lynn. "Look, its okay." He said, putting a hand on her shoulder.  
" I know." She said, and her voice softened a bit. " I can't help it."  
The way they interacted was as if they'd know each other forever. Like they knew when the other would breathe. It was like how Percy and Annabeth moved, though their relationship wasn't romantic. Piper was rubbing off on him.  
He could see a whole lot of trust there.  
"We might as well tell them." Nico said to her.  
"I know," Lynn said. "But it's been a secret for so long. "  
"Would you rather start by telling them who you are?" Nico asked.  
"No, I'd really rather not." She said quietly. Nico gave her another quick hug. It was gentle, and Jason could see real tenderness in it; real feeling. Jason was already freaking confused. That just made it a lot worse.  
"How do I know him?" Lynn said, turning back to Annabeth, a cold gleam in her eye.  
"That's rather a long story." Chills went down Jason's spine. "I started dreaming about him when I was ten. And consequently, the people around him. You."  
Now Jason wanted to throw up.  
"It's been the same for Nico. We always knew the other was real, and we felt each other's pain like it was our own. When his sister died, my mom sent me to a therapist because I did nothing but stay in bed and cry for a week."  
The seven sat there in shock.  
"I've been inside every single one of your heads." She said, her mouth twitching in disgust. "And I have seen what you think about Nico."  
Jason suddenly understood her distaste for everyone but Hazel and him.  
"So the connection went both ways..." He mused. "Was your life eventful?"  
Lynn turned towards him. "More so than you might think. I lived my life as a mortal, never realizing I was a demigod. But my life- was not exactly typical."  
She didn't elaborate anymore.  
"How did you not realize you were a halfblood?" Jason was more than a little confused now.  
She cussed at him in what sounded like Italian.  
A few minutes later, after calming down, she said "Sorry about that. I can speak Italian fluently, because Nico's been speaking it for years. Anyways, what I meant was, how the hell should I know? My powers didn't make their appearance- until it was too late, and monsters never came after me."  
"Oh." Jason wondered what Lynn meant by 'too late'.  
"Who's your godly parent?" Percy asked.  
She smiled. "Thanatos. I believe you met him." That's when Percy reeled back.  
"So you have power over death?"  
"Not exactly. I only inherited A specific part of his realm. That is, shadows."  
"Shadows?" Now Percy seemed doubtful.  
"What do you think a soul is made of? He guides the shadows, Perseus Jackson." Lynn said his name coldly, as if she wanted to smack him.  
"Unfortunately, his children, though they are few, live quite horrible lives. I- well, I already knew that."  
She sounded bitter, like she'd been dealt the worst hand you could get.  
"What do you mean?" Annabeth asked.  
"It's all over the news. But here." Lynn said, and tossed them an IPhone. "Click on the first video."  
Jason stared at it.  
The title was "Hell begins."

There were a total of forty plus videos, but they stared at the first one.  
"I don't want to see this again." Lynn said. "Is there a room I could use?" She spoke calmly, but Jason could detect something else in her voice.  
Coach hedge spoke up. "You can have mine." He said. "First bedroom on the left." Lynn actually smiled at him, and said "Thank you." Nico started to follow, but she turned to him and told him not to. "Make sure they don't see more than they need too." Her face was serious as she turned. Jason thought he saw the beginning of a sneer.  
Nico turned toward them, a look of intense agony on his face.  
"Let's get this over with." He muttered. "Leo, could you hook this up to a bigger screen?"  
"Yeah...but why?" Leo asked.  
"Because we're not watching this damn thing twice."  
In no time at all, that had the phone linked up to a large screen on a wall.  
Nico clicked on the video.  
It appeared to be a classroom, science by the looks of it. There were around twenty five kids sitting and doing some kind of worksheet.  
What did this have to do with anything...?  
Suddenly the door opened, and a man walked in. He had black hair that was pulled into a ponytail and his mouth turned up in a good natured smile.  
He looked like a good person.  
That impression didn't last long. He took out a gun, and before anyone even registered what he was doing, he had shot the teacher in the head. It was silent and almost undetectable (what kind of gun was that?).  
Every one of the students stared in shock, too shocked to do anything.  
The man; instantly after shooting the teacher; walked over to the nearest student. It was a shaggy brown haired boy, who he grabbed by the hair.  
He pulled the boy up to the front of the class room, up by the door.  
"Jim!" A girl shouted. The boy-Jim- who now had a gun pointed at his head looked terrified, his eyes darting around pleading for someone to save him.  
"Let him go!" The same girl shouted. She had been sitting next to him. Jason was amazed at her bravery, and it took him a moment to realize who she was. It was Lynn, but she was-so different. Her skin was still tanned, but she looked much healthier and wasn't dead skinny. Her eyes were still the same hazel, but they were worn, though still much happier. There was only the faintest hint of dark circles, but her hair... It was the same color but it was long and curly, not the choppy hurried style it was now.  
She looked confident and angry and not the slightest bit fearful.  
Her expression reminded Jason of Annabeth's expression right before she fell into tartarus.  
It scared him.  
The man released Jim and grabbed Lynn, but she didn't flinch at all.  
"Brave, aren't you?" The man hissed. "I know how to kill that."  
Lynn smiled, though it was more of a sneer. "Good luck with that. You don't scare me." The words reminded Jason eerily of Nico's words to Cupid.  
The man smiled even wider, showing his even white teeth. "You have to choose one boy to go with you."  
His blue eyes sparkled.  
" Is this some kind of twisted hunger games?" Even with a gun to her head, she was stupidly brazen.  
"No." The man replied. "It is rather worse."  
"I won't pick who goes to their death." She spat, and Jason saw in her eyes that Lynn knew she was going to her death.  
"Choose, or they all die."  
Lynn's eyes darted nervously. She couldn't choose someone. Her eyes pleaded for someone to do something, anything.  
Suddenly, a boy stood up at the back of the class, pushing his chair over as he did so.  
He had light blond hair- parts were almost white and then underneath there was light brown. He had pale blue eyes, wore dark skinny jeans, and had a long sleeve shirt on.  
He was obviously attractive, but not in the outgoing way many boys are.  
He looked quiet and nice- A bit like Frank.  
"I volunteer." He said, brave and true but sarcastic all at once. Maybe he was more of a Percy... His face was certainly identical to Percy's before he and Annabeth fell.  
Lynn's face went through a series of emotions- shock, relief, and a bitter expression. One that spoke of irony.  
"You always were the nicest of us, Clay." She said. Clay walked calmly over to the man and Lynn.  
The man marched them out the door.  
The video went black.  
Nico turned away from the screen, an unreadable expression on his face. He took the phone and unhooked it from the projector.  
"Seen enough?" A voice came from behind them. Lynn.  
"Could you explain more...?" Annabeth asked.  
Lynn smiled. "Phone." Nico tossed her it. She caught it effortlessly, right before it hit the ground.  
Jason saw her go to google and type in  
"Lynn Rugsmire and Clay Ackerson"  
She clicked on the first website that came up. .

She started to read aloud.  
"The kidnapping of Lynn Rugsmire and Clay Ackerson remains a baffling case to authorities. A man apparently forced them to volunteer and then took them to an unknown location. He then tortured them, again forcing them to choose who. He then hacked into the schools computer and played the live video each day. The FBI became involved, and were unable to track them down. The videos stopped precisely two months ago, and there has been no more forthcoming information on the case."  
"Tortured?" Frank seemed baffled by that.  
"We always vowed never to make a sound." She seemed lost in another world. "But he always found new ways to make us scream." She rasped, her eyes glinting. " I can still hear them."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two of _Bent is Not Broken_

Disclaimer: Characters not mine blah, blah, blah. Lynn and Clay are mine, blah, blah, blah. You get the idea.

"Look."  
Lynn said, looking all of them in the eyes. "I'm not downplaying the  
things you guys have went through. I've been in all your heads for a  
while." She looked awful, like someone had sucked the happiness out of  
her.

"You've all went through emotional pain. Very severe emotional pain. And  
yes, you have all felt physical pain when you've gotten wounded."

She looked at them all one by one- as if she could stare in to their souls.  
Jason shivered.

"But most of it is nothing-nothing at all compared to what Clay and I went  
through. Have you ever have someone deliberately cut a knife into your  
arm, in the most painful and sensitive part? Have you ever been forced to argue  
with the person closest to you who's going to get tortured?"

Jason wanted to vomit at those words.

"I managed to take the first two days. The first day was the knife- which  
in all honesty was one of the worst. Most people are more afraid of a knife  
than a gun, because a knife is so much more personal. He always smiled at me  
when he did this, and his eyes were the prettiest shade of blue." She was  
talking about the kidnapper in an almost sentimental kind Of way.

"The second day was bad, though. He must have done his homework, and  
I have always been deathly afraid of needles. The second day, the torture came  
in an injection form. It was a big, thick needle, the kind that hurts like hell  
when it goes in." Jason saw her relieving the memories.

"I convulsed and spasmed, and yes, screamed. I couldn't help it- the pain  
was unbearable. I remember Clay holding me, hugging me, even though we were  
only friends. I remember my head being in his lap , the pain lasting for hours  
and hours before I blacked out."

Lynn sucked in a deep breath.

"He took the third one. After that, things were pretty evened out."  
She began to move to wards the projector.

"Are you sure...?" Nico asked her quietly.

"Yes." Lynn told him. And she hooked up the phone to the screen  
again. This time, she went to the very last video.

"This one never got posted on the Internet." She told the group.  
"I had to download it on my phone from his computer."

"Are you going to go in another room again?" Jason asked.

"No." She told him. "I see this every time I blink, every time I  
close my eyes, so it won't matter to see it once more."

She clicked the play button.

It was Lynn and Clay, and compared to the first video, the changes were  
drastic. The imprisonment had been maybe a month and a half- and they looked  
awful. They were covered in blood, Clay's chest was bare, as they had torn up  
his shirt to make bandages. Every inch of skin had some sort of injury, and the  
same was true for Lynn. Burns, cuts, lesions, and so much more. Both each had  
blood matting their hair. Jason wanted to curl into a ball because he knew this  
is what Hell looked like. It was a gray room made of cinderblocks,  
shackles around their wrists preventing them from reaching the only door.

The black haired man in a ponytail walked in, the same odd smile on his face  
like before.

"Change of plans." He said, and the two figures froze. "I will  
give you ten minutes to figure this out."

Lynn and Clay stared at him.

"One of you will die, and one will live. Your time starts...now." He  
walked straight back out.

Clay and Lynn turned to each other in shock.

Then they both started to speak at once.

"Me! I... Will...NO!" Tears were streaming down both their faces.

They grabbed at each other and kissed.

What?

Lynn paused the video.

"Funny thing, life is. He was my first boyfriend, my first kiss. Two weeks  
in, that was when it first happened. Turns out we'd both had a crush in each  
other since sixth grade. We could've had so much more time together..."

Jason knew what was coming next when she pressed the play button again.

The kiss was long and hard, when Lynn broke it off." Lets not talk about  
that right now."she said.

They sat  
against the cold stone wall, hugging and occasionally kissing.

"I love you." She said as the man walked in.

"I love you too."

"Have you made your choice?" He seemed coldly amused.

"ME!" They both screamed at once, then proceeding to give the other a  
dirty look.

"I'll make it for you, then." He threw the knife, and it impaled Clay  
in the chest.

Lynn gave a guttural scream and crawled over to him. He was dead, his  
eyes glassy.

"I came into my powers too late." She'd said.

Lynn let loose another, deeper scream, and the darkness in the room seemed to  
be drawn to her shackles. They exploded in a burst of darkness. The man was  
crawling backward, obviously terrified, as Lynn stood over him with a sharp  
price of a shackle in her hand.

She stabbed him in the throat with it.

Then the video ended. They were all shocked and had nothing to say. Suddenly,  
Lynn spun around as if she'd just thought of something.

"Have you talked to Clay?!" She whispered desperately.

Nico nodded silently.

"Can you bring him here?!"

"No."

"Why not?! What did he say to you?"

"He moved on... To be reborn. He said... He said that he didn't want to  
hurt you anymore."

Lynn's eyes broke. "He's gone...I wanted to... See him just one more  
time.."

She collapsed, sobbing into the deck.

Nico put his hand in her shaking back. Jason knew that if anyone could  
understand it was him. He'd lost his sister the same way.

And the air was still except for the shaking body of Lynn Rugsmire

Lynn ran to Coach Hedges room, slamming the door behind her. Nico sprinted  
after her.

He was pounding on the door when Jason walked by.

"Lynn! Let me in!"

"No!" She screamed back. "GO AWAY!"

"Why?" Nico asked as he slumped against the door.

"Because I want the right to wallow in self pity and If you come in I'll  
feel bad about your life."

Nico sighed and walked away. Jason knocked on the door.

"I SWEAR NICO," she shrieked. "IF THAT IS YOU, YOU WILL BE  
TAKING SOME MORE UNEXPECTED TRIPS TO CHINA!"

"Uhm, Lynn it's Jason."

"Oh," she said and opened the door, looking surprised.

"Come in."

It was filled with martial arts posters and DVDs.

"Hey," he said uncertainly. "I can help you wallow in self  
pity."

She smiled, weakly, but it was still a grin. "My life freaking  
sucks."

"I know." He told her.

"You've seen the obvious reasons. But there were other, more subtle ones  
as well."

Jason's mind about blew. "What?"

She looked as if she was arguing with herself. "I'm going to trust you,  
Jason Grace. Since Nico told you about his feelings, I suppose it's only fair  
you know mine."

Jason's head was reeling.

Seeing his face she said "No, I'm not gay you idiot. It's much worse. It  
started when I was ten... I didn't understand them. I kept having dreams about  
blood and death. It was worrisome, but not overly so. Not until when I was  
eleven, my friend cut herself and I imagined more blood. Lots more." Lynn  
seemed shaken.

"I became obsessed with crime shows, psychodramas. I found every one there  
was and watched them. I took online collage classes on psychology, passed every  
one. I did an insane amount of reading. Nothing helped."

Jason felt sick, like he was going to throw up. She had the crappiest life in  
existence.

"It's gone away, since I volunteered."

It hit Jason suddenly.

"That's why you did it..."

She smiled, though it was more of a sneer. "Yeah, I figured I should do  
one good thing before I die."

They sat  
there silently for a few minutes when she started to speak again.

"Though it may seem insignificant compared to other things, there's  
another sucky aspect to my life."

"What?"

"I still love Clay, always will. But he's dead. So my heart went searching  
for someone else. The person closest to me."

"Oh...OH!"

"Yeah." She smiled grimly. "It found Nico di Angelo."

"Why haven't you told him?!"

"C'mon Jason, I thought you were  
smarter than that. " she leered at him. "It would kill him. He can't  
give me the love I want... Ever. So why hurt him by telling him that? Better I  
should suffer alone. He's got enough problems in his own love life."

Jason still had trouble digesting that. "You're in love... With him?"

"Yep. I fell in live with someone who's gay. Told you, my life's pretty  
damn bad."

"And if you tell him, I swear to gods you'll regret it till the end of  
your days."

They walked out a few minutes later, tired and frustrated.

Lynn was calmed down now.

"That's strange..." Coach hedge mused.

"What?" Leo asked.

"All demigods have a distinctive scent from their parent, even when the  
realms are very similar. But Lynn- she smells exactly like him." He  
pointed to Nico.

Everybody turned.

"Are you sure your dad is Thanatos?"

"Positive." Lynn said, without missing a beat.

"Hold on...You smell faintly of her." He pointed, this time at  
Annabeth.

Lynn froze, her eyes as big as dinner plates.

"Oh gods." She looked sick.

"What?" Nico asked, instantly putting her arm over his shoulders to  
support her.

"I knew it." She gasped. "He was always so smart, too smart for  
his own good. He spouted off random facts and was top in the class damn it  
no.."

"Who?" Coach hedge asked.

"Clay."

She didn't even let that sink in before adding something else. "Let's go  
see your father, Nico."

"What?" He looked shocked.

" I know what happened."

His eyes lit up with understanding. "OH! Those legends... Crap..."

They shadow trade away before any one could stop them, leaving behind the rest  
if the group sitting there in total shock.

Nico felt the shadows whistle by, until he and Lynn landed with a thump on the  
rocks of the underworld.

She was steaming mad, and this honestly scared Nico. A lot. Last time he had  
seen her this mad, she had stabbed a guy in the throat with a sharp price of  
metal.

Though now she was only armed with a kitchen knife, Nico felt certain that his  
dad was in trouble.

She yanked Nico through the crowds of the dead. They seemed drawn to her,  
though after she hissed "Go away" they fled the fastest Nico had ever  
seen.

She brazenly walked into Hades throne room.

Hades saw her; and became angry. After all, she was intruding in his throne  
room.

"WHO IS THIS?" He boomed. "ETERNAL PUNISHMENT AFTER I FRY YOU TO  
A PULP!"

Lynn didn't appear the slightest bit frightened, and it was contagious.

Nico didn't want to cower in front of his father anymore.

Meanwhile; Lynn was so angry that her eyes were a silver color; like an glowing  
shadow.

Her choppy hair blew in a wind only for her, and she snarled at Hades.  
"Care to explain to me what the hell is going on?"

Hades then recognized her, because is anger instantly dissipated,  
something like fear replacing it.

"What...? How?"

"I just want some damn answers. Quit being a jerk and give me some."  
She drew her ordinary metal kitchen knife. Though he was twenty feet taller,  
and dressed in the bones of the dead, it was hades who looked afraid.

"You weren't supposed to know..."

"KNOW WHAT?!" She screamed like a madwoman, obviously knowing parts  
if the story.

"That you were a halfblood." He whispered, ashamed. "It  
should've worked."

"WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU CARE?!" She screeched. "YOU ARE NOT MY  
FATHER!"

"That I am not." Hades said, composed again. "I did it to  
protect you as well as the world. I'd don't know what went wrong.."

"Don't pretend you care about me. Look how you treat your own son."  
She sneered, gesturing to Nico.

Hades saw him for the first time and jumped. "NICO? How did you know about  
her?" Now he looked truly afraid.

For the first time, Nico spoke up. "I know what you did, father. I know  
you did exactly what you weren't supposed to do. You masked her scent, and  
powers, and she would've remained a mortal, but for her dreams."

"WHAT DREAMS?"

"We've been dreaming about each other since we were ten." He  
said calmly.

"DANMIT." Hades screamed, knocking over a few skeletons.

"What?" Lynn asked.

"Some god has been tampering with fate... The consequences for that  
are enormous."

"But isn't that exactly what you did... When you enlisted the help of  
Athena to mask their scents."

Lynn appeared at a loss for words.

"What?" She whispered hoarsely. "But they hate each  
other..."!

"Yes," Nico said. "But they had a common goal. Athena had  
a child a well...

Lynn fit the prices together.

"Oh gods. Oh gods."

"WHY?!" She screamed, out of control once more.

"Because you were dangerous. And we didn't want to kill both of you. You  
have powers that you can't even dream about, Lynn. Both of you, including the  
child of Athena. I wanted to check up on you, but that would've broken the  
mask."

She didn't appear to be listening.

"SO IT'S YOUR FREAKING FAULT." The shadows whistled around her  
creating a black vortex, her eyes the same glowing silver. "HE'S DEAD  
BECAUSE HE COULDN'T USE HIS POWERS." Her knife started glowing. "I  
WOLN'T FORGET!"

She screamed, guttural and primal, before disappearing into the shadows.  
Nico followed her, tracing Lynn's path. 


	3. Chapter 3

The  
rest of the seven were worried. It'd been a whole day, and they still hadn't  
appeared.

Jason wondered if Lynn had gotten them both turned into dust.

Just then, they appeared, looking different.

"NICO DI ANGELO WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" It was Hazel. She had been the  
most worried.

"Sorry," Nico said, hugging her gently. "We ran into some...  
Unexpected problems."

That's when Jason noticed the sword now hanging from a scabbard on Lynn's  
waist.

"What's that?" He asked.

" A sword, you idiot. Hades gave it to me."

Was it just him, or was Lynn staring at that sword like she wanted to vaporize  
it. It was black, Stygian iron, with a grey gem in the hilt. Clear grooves  
wrapped around it, and they looked hollow, like empty veins.

But that wasn't why she was different. She had on different clothes, black  
skinny jeans again, but not ripped and covered In blood. Lynn had a new Jacket  
and shirt too. She even had heavy duty metal tied combat boots on. She looked  
like she could kill anyone, and looked a lot more confident.

"Hey," she asked suddenly. "Percy."

"What?" Percy asked curiously. "Can I test my fighting skills on  
you?"

They both had their swords drawn, the edges dulled by Hazel.

"I'll go easy on you," Percy said. "Since you're a  
beginner and all." He was grinning.

"Don't you dare, Jackson. I may lose, but I will lose with honor.  
" She looked surprisingly confident though.

And then Percy made the first move- Lynn easily dodged it. Percy looked  
surprised, going on the attack once more.

She countered every strike with ease.

And finally, Percy jabbed his sword straight at her.

She did a back flip onto the blade, and another flip to land behind percy. Her  
sword was drawn across his throat.

Later, Jason walked in Lynn's room.

"Hey ,good job out there." She smiled tightly but said nothing.

"What's wrong?" He asked, concerned.

"It's just... These dreams I've been having."

"What are they about?"

"Nothing." She said shortly, obviously regretting telling him. She  
crumbled a piece of paper in her hand and walked away.

Jason felt like she had just signed her own death warrant. A cold wind blew by  
him.

The wall came crashing down on them. It'd been a month since Lynn had shown up,  
and had integrated into the team pretty well, though she was obviously out of  
place among anyone except Nico and Jason.

But she was a valuable addition to the eight, regardless.

They had gotten chased down into the black cavern by Gaia's forces.

"LOOK OUT!" Hazel screamed, a split second too late. The wall of  
rocks separated Nico, Percy, and her from the rest. They tried to get through  
it, but it was virtually impenetrable.

"WE'LL FIND ANOTHER WAY!" Lynn screamed so they could hear her.

"HAZEL CAN TRACK US!"

So Percy, Nico, and Lynn all started walking, swords drawn. They were  
all tired, but Lynn was absolutely terrified. Her dreams; they were coming  
true. She wanted to vomit.

"Hey, are you okay?" Percy asked, obviously concerned.

"I just don't like the underground." She lied. Nico gave her a  
strange look.

Lynn hissed "Later."

There wouldn't be a later, not if her dreams were right.

They walked almost silently in the strange black cavern. The rocks looked to be  
made of jagged obsidian rock, sharp to the touch.

Lynn tried to stay in tune with the shadows for threats, but this was not her  
realm. It was Gaia's.

Suddenly, there was a noise by Nico. He crept silently towards the sound.

And Lynn knew; instinctively; because she had seen it so many times in her  
dreams, what was going to happen next.

The gold spear flashed out of the darkness, not at Nico, but at Percy.

She knew it was going to go right through him.

She remembered Hades' words about how changing fate was beyond dangerous.  
It was insane.

She wasn't supposed to do it, but she challenged fate, and chose her own way.

She threw herself in front of the golden spear's path.

It hit Lynn, right in the stomach. It punched through her like she was paper,  
hitting Percy as well.

But he had a chance at least, now.

Nico shrieked, and the thing vaporized. Lynn never even saw what it was.

He ran over to both of them, the spear still lodged in her body.

She stumbled, feeling dizzy and sick.

Nico crouched over both of them.

"Go." She told him weakly.

"I'm not leaving you!" Nico... He was crying?

"Take Percy. He needs help. I'll catch up later."

They both knew that was unlikely. Nico hefted Percy up, so he was draped over  
his shoulders, and looked at her.

"Lynn?"

"Yeah?" She wheezed, her vision blurry and unstable.

"What you did... Was it for me?"

" I thought Percy was the idiot. Go."

He turned away, dragging Percy with him. Lynn could smell his tears.

She mouthed I love you at his back.

Nico struggled to haul Percy down the narrow passage. He couldn't stop  
thinking about Lynn, what she'd done for him. Why had she done that?

He became aware that he could no longer hear Percy's rattled cough.

No

He laid Percy down to check his breathing.

There wasn't any.

No pulse.

Oh gods no dammit wake up. Perseus jackson can't be gone no he's forever.

He shook Percy, because that would've meant Lynn's sacrifice would've been for  
nothing nothing at all.

But then, even that thought left his mind.

He made a sound that couldn't be classified, it wasn't a scream so much as pure  
agony.

He cupped Percy's face and cried. And then he screamed.

Lynn knew something was wrong, even in her deteriorating state. So she let the  
shadows guide her.

They took her to Nico.

She saw it. She saw the pain he was in; the complete and utter agony. She had  
once been in it herself. The memories brought fresh waves of pain. And then she  
saw him kiss Percy jackson's dust stained dead lips.

Even as the new kind of pain hit her, Lynn knew what she had to do. She may not  
have had power over the dead, but she had something else.

Lynn knew that she would've survived her injuries. She defied fate a second  
time anyways.

She rasped quietly "I give everything I am, everything I have to Perseus  
Jackson."

She felt her life leave her. She heard Percy start coughing.

Nico turned around and saw her.

"LYNN!"

She collapsed to the ground.

He ran over to her, his face over hers.

She tried to raise her hand, to touch his face one last time, but it  
fell. Her strength was gone.

Her mind grew blank.

Jason and the others desperately ran through the cavern, searching desperately  
for the three. Hazel was ahead of them all, as she'd been tracking Nico.

"SOMETHING'S HAPPENED!" Hazel screamed.

And then They heard a shriek that was unmistakably Nico's.

Jason didn't know what they'd find.

They all ran into a small rounded room of the cavern, when Jason stopped.

Nico was clutching Lynn to him, crying, the sound of it echoing throughout.  
Percy lay a few feet away, coughing, with a pool of blood all around and on  
him.

But he was alive. And Jason knew in that moment that Lynn was dead, because  
nothing else could make Nico break down like that and ignore Percy when he was  
hurt.

The rest of the seven stopped in shock, except for Annabeth, who ran to Percy.

"Are you alright?" She asked hysterically.

"Yeah, fine." Percy said. "Just a bit weak."

"Then what's this?" Annabeth asked hurriedly, pulling up his  
shirt to see the wound.

But there was nothing on his chest, except for a small pink scar. "I  
don't remember this..." Percy said uncertainly; touching it cautiously  
with his fingers.

"What happened?" Annabeth seemed like she was about to cry.

"I... Don't know?"

Before the shock of that set in, everyone turned back to Nico.

Percy seemed to see it for the first time.

"LYNN!" He crawled over to Nico.

They'd all grown fond of her, because underneath her brazen 'I don't give  
a shit' attitude, there'd been one of the best and noble people all of them had  
ever met.

Percy; even though she was particularly wary around him; had adopted her  
as a younger sister.

And gradually; towards the end; they had been close friends.

The tears started streaming down from all their faces, including Percy's.

Nico sobbed, picking her body up and hugging her. All Jason could see of her  
head was her choppy black hair.

Suddenly, he remembered about her dreams that she'd refused to tell him about.  
And how Lynn had told Jason she loved Nico Di Angelo like she'd loved Clay.

And she couldn't bear to see him in pain.

Jason fell to the floor in a dead faint, his eyes rolling up in his head.

Nico knew that Jason had fainted, but he couldn't concentrate on that. Lynn was  
dead, her cold hazel eyes staring at him from death. Her mouth was still in her  
last frown of concentration.

"I'm sorry." He whispered. "I'm so sorry."

Nico vaguely heard them helping Jason up.

"I HATE YOU." He screamed at Lynn. "DAMMIT WHY'D YOU DO  
THAT?" The tears dropped onto her already cold skin.

He felt Percy trying to drag him away from her body.

Nico snarled, brining up skeletons from the earth. They held their swords out,  
not letting anybody pass.

He heard another voice cut through his pain.

"Nico?" It was Jason.

No. He didn't want to talk right now, had to go to the underworld. He shadow  
traveled away, landing painfully on his knees.

He ran through the skeleton crowds, pushing them over, until he got to the room  
for judgement room.

He saw Lynn's ghost. She was a transparent silver, escorted by two guards.

She smiled sadly at him from across the room.

No one else seemed to notice him, so he watched the judging silently.

"Lynn Rugsmire, you are guilty of tampering with fate."

"We sentence you to eternal punishment."

What? NO!

He screamed at the judges.

"Child of death. You have no control over us."

He followed the guards out, everything going blurry.

"LYNN!" He pushed the skeleton guards aside.

Nico tried to hug her, but he went right through her.'Hey." she said  
softly.

"Why?" He asked her, needing to know an answer.

"You know." She tried to put her hand on his arm, but her form  
evaporated when close to human skin.

" Do me a favor." She asked him.

"Anything."

"Don't come back. Ever."

"What?"

"You heard me. Go away. I don't want you to see what's going to  
happen."

And when he adamantly refused, her eyes glowed the same bright silver as  
months ago when they'd been talking to Hades.

"GO AWAY."

And Nico was whisked away involuntarily by the shadows that had brought him  
there.

Jason saw Nico get dumped back into the room. He saw Nico try to shadow travel  
again, only to simply fall back to where he was before.

"It won't work." He sobbed desperately.

"She's too powerful."

And hours later, after he had calmed down and was sitting next to Lynn's body,  
holding her hand, Jason had sat next to him.

"I know why." He told Nico.

"Why?"

"She loved you."

Nico dropped Lynn's hand in shock.

Nico stared at Jason.

"What?" His voice trembled. "Why didn't she tell me?"

The rest of the group was watching with rapt attention, aware that something  
was going on. Jason lowered his voice so they couldn't hear.

"She didn't want to hurt you. Lynn knew that you could never give her the  
love she wanted- so she gave up."

Nico gave a guttural scream; like an animal.

"I think I could've loved her." He said quietly, looking down at her  
corpse.

"I think I do now." Jason wanted to cry at that. " I feel like I  
can't live without her."

Nico lay down next to her body, curling up beside her.

He sobbed quietly into her hair.

Jason gestured for the seven to go away.

"Nico," he said quietly. "It's not your fault."

Nico looked at him. "Damn right it is. She did it all for me."

Jason tried to contradict him, but couldn't find away to.

"She's in eternal punishment." Everybody, including Jason,  
gasped. "For tampering with fate."

"Oh my god." That was Piper.

"It wasn't Lynn's fault she was here. It was the damn god who sent us  
those dreams." Nico spat bitterly.

"Mother..." Piper whispered weakly.

"What?" Jason asked, it dawning on him.

"Last time I saw my mom... She told me she loved tragic love stories...  
And she had created the best one. It was between the dead and the dying... The  
pariah and the outcast."

Jason felt a burning rage.

He punctuated the end of each word. "I. AM. GOING. TO. KILL. HER."

Nico's secret, what he had always been ashamed of, the thing that had destroyed  
him and his life... Was because of Aprhodite...?

"She also said that... It was never meant to be... And it was tragic  
watching them try to figure it out. My mom... Said she had found the best kind  
of love triangle..."

Oh my gods. Nico had loved Percy with everything he had... Because of some  
damned loved goddess who thought it was amusing...

Lynn had loved Nico di Angelo the same way for the same Reason. And she had  
died because a love goddess liked to play games with hearts.

"There's nothing we can do about it now." Percy spoke quietly, not  
grasping why Jason was so mad, as he didn't know.

"We have to get moving."

Nico, tears running down his face, stood up.

He looked at Lynn as if he wanted to stay with her forever.

Instead, black rock came up and encased her body, like a tomb. It was more like  
a gem, and they could see her body in it, frozen as if in jello.

"I'll come back for you." Nico said. "I swear it on the river  
Styx."

And if Jason had looked, he would've seen Leo mouthing those same words.

They walked for hours until they could see daylight.

"We're here.." They should've been excited, but they all kept  
thinking of Lynn's corpse far behind them. Nico wanted to vomit... All his  
fault.

A figure stood in front of them, blocking their way.

Nico wouldn't have recognized her if not for the hair. Her skin was now waxy  
and pale, instead of the tanned olive tone it normally was. Her eyes were  
a black instead of bitter hazel that they should've been. They weren't human  
eyes, but closer to the solid gold of possession.

She was wearing the same clothes though, and her hair was still choppy and  
black.

"I'm back." Lynn sneered, drawing out the words, her now black eyes  
glinting with malice. 


End file.
